AMONG the rights those who have the Freedom of the City of London bestowed upon them are granted are the right to drive sheep and cattle across London Bridge, the right to carry a naked sword and the right to be sent home in a taxi rather than spend a night in the cells if found drunk by a police officer.

Whether or not there are similar rights granted to anyone who is given the Freedom of the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness is not clear, although Paul Crarey may well soon get to find out if Barrow Raiders carry on going the way they are.

Civic honours might well be the least the town's rugby league supporters would think Raiders head coach Crarey would deserve in the wake of yesterday's victory over Leigh Centurions, though any sort of mention in the Queen's Birthday or New Year's Honours lists might have to wait just for now.

Certainly though, it is easy to imagine one or two fans might have benefited from being bundled into a taxi and sent home last night though after indulging in a few ales to celebrate a stunning upset against one of the Betfred Championship promotion favourites – but why not?

Yes, it must be remembered there are still another 20 games to come in the regular season, plus a further seven in the second part of the campaign, and a tough away trip to Batley Bulldogs coming up this Sunday.

But it is also important to recognise the Raiders have put three points on the board after being handed arguably the toughest set of opening fixtures they could have got following promotion – three points more than pretty much every pundit, and all but the most optimistic of supporters, expected them to have.

It is clear too the players have quickly learnt what the Championship is all about following an unforgiving induction away to London Broncos in the opening fixture. That was shown in the draw with Toronto Wolfpack and then backed up with this 24-20 win over a Leigh team aiming to return to Super League at the first attempt.

It seems somewhat unfair to single out one particular individual given how much the entire starting 13 and four interchange players contributed to Barrow's triumph, but a hat-trick of tries ensured Shane Toal grabbed much of the attention.

Last year's top try-scorer for the Raiders contributed at the other end of the field as well though, and his covering tackle on Leigh's Jack Owens in the first half to deny the full-back what seemed like a certain try just metres from the line was arguably just as crucial as any of the ones he scored.

The signs were there that this was going to be another close-fought match between the part-timers from Barrow and their full-time opponents from the opening minutes, although it was first blood to the Centurions on eight minutes after Ilias Bergal picked up a loose ball close to the line after Ben Hood had been stopped short and scampered in for an unconverted try.

The Raiders did not falter though and a penalty for a high tackle led to them getting back in the game nine minutes later, gaining good field position and allowing Ryan Fieldhouse to send Toal darting through for his first try which was duly converted by Jamie Dallimore.

Leigh retook the lead in the 26th minute when Samoa international Peter Mata'utia finished on a last-tackle play, with Ben Reynolds converting, yet a fumble soon after the restart by the visitors was punished by Toal when he picked up the loose ball and streaked down the touchline for his second.

Dallimore then booted Barrow ahead from a penalty following a high tackle, but two tries in quick succession towards the end of the half – one on a repeat set and one from two consecutive penalties – from Larne Patrick and Bergal saw the Centurions take command at half time.

Some might have feared the worst with the Raiders facing a 20-12 deficit at the break, but not only were they able to overhaul that, they managed to prevent the expensively-assembled away side from scoring again.

The gap was narrowed when a great kick over the top from Dallimore caught the defence flat-footed and Fieldhouse took the catch for a 56th-minute try which was converted. Then with 10 minutes to go, a superb move involving Dean Parata, Jarrad Stack and Fieldhouse was finished in the corner by Toal, with half-back Dallimore nailing the conversion from out wide.

There was still plenty of time left to see out though, but there were bodies flying in all over the place to stop Leigh – none more so than Ryan Duffy, who was making his first start after missing the entire 2017 season while recovering from re-constructive surgery on his knee.

Ultimately, the Raiders' resolve proved insurmountable and when the full-time hooter finally came, players, fans and coaches were able to celebrate a victory which will live long in the memory.

Barrow Raiders: Ryan Fieldhouse 7; Shane Toal 9, Jarrad Stack 8, Declan Hulme 7, Brett Carter 8; Jamie Dallimore 8, Karl Ashall 7; Ryan Duffy 7, Dean Parata 8, Alec Susino 8, Dan Toal 7, Bradd Crellin 7, Martin Aspinwall 8. Interchange: Nathan Mossop 7, Joe Bullock 8, Glenn Riley 8, Tom Walker 8.

Leigh Centurions: Jack Owens; Matthew Dawson, Ben Crooks, Peter Mata’utia, Ilias Bergal; Ben Reynolds, Drew Hutchinson; Paterika Vai Vai, Liam Hood, Nathan Mason, Kevin Larroyer, Bodene Thompson, Jordan Thompson. Interchange: Daniel Mortimer, Jamie Acton, Harrison Hanson, Larne Patrick.

Referee: John McMullen.

Attendance: 1,991.

Playback: 8 – Bergal try (0-4); 17 – S Toal try, Dallimore conv (6-4); 28 – Mata'utia try, Reynolds conv (6-10); 30 – S Toal try (10-10); 33 – Dallimore pen (12-10); 37 – Patrick try, Reynolds conv (12-16); 40 – Bergal try (12-20); 56 – Fieldhouse try, Dallimore conv (18-20); 70 – S Toal try, Dallimore conv (24-20).

Raiders star man: Shane Toal – Showed great awareness and vision for all three of his tries, while his try-saving tackle on Jack Owens in the first half was just as vital a contribution to Barrow's triumph.